Nahum 3:2

2 The ¹noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots!

Nahum 3:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nahum 3:2

The noise of a whip
Of a horseman or chariot driver whipping his horses to make speed to Nineveh, and enter into it, so near as to be heard by the inhabitants of it; and is thus represented in order to strike terror into them: and the noise of the rattling of the wheels;
that is, of the chariots upon the stones, whose drivers drove Jehu like, making the utmost haste they could to get in first, and seize the prey: and of the pransing horses;
or bounding steeds, upon a full gallop; either with horsemen on them riding full speed to partake of the booty; or in chariots, in which they caper and prance, and shake the ground as they go; hence it follows: and of the jumping chariots;
which, through the swiftness of the motion, seem to leap and dance as they run along.

Nahum 3:2 In-Context

1 Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs.

2 The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots!

3 Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies - They stumble over the dead bodies!

4 All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.

5 "Behold, I am against you," declares the LORD of hosts; "And I will lift up your skirts over your face, And show to the nations your nakedness And to the kingdoms your disgrace.

Cross References

• 1. Job 39:22-25; Jeremiah 47:3; Nahum 2:3, 4

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "skipping"